Climate Change Update

Climate talks in Bonn conclude but no deal in sight

To revise or not to revise Annexes remains the central divisive issue

As the five-day climate talks at Bonn concluded on May 3, countries showed little sign of having made any headway. Developed and developing countries continue to remain divided, as they have been for the past two decades. Even as countries proposed more workshops to discuss specific issues in subsequent climate talks, it is clear that the road ahead is full of challenges. Consider, for example, differentiation.

Bernarditas Muller, a seasoned member of the Philippines negotiating team, is among the rare few who call a spade a spade. Speaking to Indrajit Bose during the ongoing climate talks at Bonn, she outlined the importance of the UN Framework Convention and provided insight into how the developed world represents the epitome of inaction and how some developing countries are still so naïve. Edited excerpts

Discussions on the 2015 climate deal are in full swing at the ongoing Bonn climate talks. Countries are deeply engaged in workshops and roundtables discussing various issues that will shape the 2015 deal. During one such workshop on April 30, the EU sprung a surprise on the issue of short-lived climate pollutants, which is fast gaining momentum here in Bonn and continues to be a bone of contention between developed and developing countries. Without mincing words, the EU made it clear that the issue of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) should be discussed under Montreal Protocol and that they hope a decision is taken on this in the Warsaw climate talks scheduled for November 2013.

New deal must not attempt to rewrite or reinterpret the Convention, say developing countries

By: Indrajit Bose, Bonn

The second session of the ADP, acronym for Ad hoc Working Group on Durban Platform, began in Bonn on April 29, 2013. At the opening session, countries outlined their positions on what they expect of the global deal on climate change, to be decided in 2015 and which will be implemented from 2020 (see box: Country positions).